Fairway Police are investigating at least three car thefts and some other auto burglaries that occurred over the weekend, according to Chief J.P. Thurlo.
What we know: The thefts and break-ins all occurred either late on Friday night, Aug. 5, or early on the morning of Saturday, Aug. 6, according to investigators.
- As of Tuesday, Thurlo said two of the three stolen cars had been recovered — and he anticipated the third to be recovered soon.
One resident’s experience: Aaron Weber, a Fairway resident who lives near 62nd and Fontana streets, says he woke up to both of his cars missing on Saturday.
- Weber said after the initial shock, he immediately called 911.
- He said Fairway used to be a place where unlocked car doors weren’t an issue, but he worries that is increasingly no longer the case.
What he said: “I can understand, I can see it’s desperate times and people might think, ‘Oh, Fairway,’” Weber said. “But this isn’t rich Fairway, this is blue collar Fairway. Everyone on [my] block is decidedly blue collar.”
How they were found: Weber told the Post he was able to track the location of one of the two vehicles with a GPS app on his smartphone. That vehicle was eventually found near 30th Street and Prospect Avenue in Kansas City, Missouri.
- In an email follow-up, Weber confirmed to the Post that his partner’s car was also recovered later Tuesday evening.
- Weber said that car was recovered near 119th Street and State Line Road.
Zooming out: There have been approximately 18 car thefts in Fairway so far this year, Thurlo said.
- Almost all of these thefts have occurred with vehicles that were either left unlocked, with keys left in the vehicle or with their engines running outside, he said.
- Thurlo confirmed for the Post that he does believe car thefts are on the rise in Fairway.
- “Please, obviously, lock everything,” he said. “We do have extra patrols and we’re adapting to this crime trend with manpower.”
The upshot: Fairway Police have released the following messaging about car theft prevention several times this year already:
Loading...
Reload document 
Open in new tab Editor’s note: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated Thurlo did not believe there was a rise in car thefts in Fairway. This was a miscommunication. Thurlo does believe there is a rise in car thefts in Fairway.
